Majority Leader-Elect Says It Is Time for Hard-Working Americans to Earn a Fair Wage

WASHINGTON, DC - House Majority Leader-Elect Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today in response to the research report issued by Americans United for Change, which discusses the pay discrepancy between CEO's and minimum wage earners:

"As Americans United for Change reported today, the CEOs of the nation's top companies will earn in two hours and two minutes what minimum wage workers will earn over the course of an entire year. It is disgraceful that such an enormous pay gap exists. With the minimum wage frozen at $5.15 per hour for the past nine years and four months, it is extremely difficult for minimum wage earners to meet their basic needs, and yet millions of Americans are forced to live in these conditions.

"As one of its first acts, this Democratic Congress is committed to raising the minimum wage by $2.10 over the next two years. Americans who work hard to earn an honest living should not be relegated to poverty. This is an issue of fairness, and soon workers will receive the long-overdue raise they have earned. Raising the minimum wage enjoys broad bipartisan support, and I am hopeful that the Senate will join us by passing a clean minimum wage bill as well."